Rays opt for Martinez to start World Series over ace Rasmussen

MILWAUKEE -- In a bit of a curveball, the Tampa Bay Rays will start Nick Martinez, and not staff ace Drew Rasmussen, in Game 1 of the World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, manager Kevin Cash announced Thursday. Rasmussen would've pitched on regular rest Friday after starting Sunday in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians, but Cash said the club prioritized giving him an extra day between starts given Rasmussen's heavy usage in the postseason thus far. The right-hander has logged at least six innings in each of his playoff starts, giving up three runs over 21 total innings. "He's had a pretty thick workload here," Cash said Thursday. "We've relied on him heavily. We know when he takes the ball, we're trying to get the full pitch allotment out of him." Martinez, who had never started a postseason game before this year, will get the ball on five days' rest after holding the Guardians to one run on two hits over 5 1/3 innings in Game 4 of the ALCS. He will start opposite Brewers fireballer Jacob Misiorowski. Martinez said Cash informed he would start Game 1 on Thursday after Martinez, who has arranged team dinners at every road city this season, organized one at a local steakhouse Wednesday night. "It's exciting," Martinez said. "I think as a team, as a staff, we're confident in whoever we call up to the mound. It fell on me, and my job is just to rack up as many outs as we can and keep us in this ballgame." The 36-year-old right-hander is nearing the end of a career season that began when he signed a one-year, $13 million contract with the Rays days before the start of spring training. After dreadful results in meaningless Grapefruit League games, Martinez emerged as one of the best pitchers in the AL in his first full year as a starter in the big leagues. He earned his first All-Star nod and concluded the regular season with a 3.10 ERA over a career-high 180 innings. He was even better on the road, pitching to a 2.38 ERA in 94 2/3 innings over 16 starts away from home. Martinez pitched in Milwaukee in late March and held the Brewers to two runs across six innings to open a three-game series between the clubs. The Rays improved to 2-2 and the Brewers fell to 3-1 at American Family Field that night. Nearly seven months later, after finishing with the best records in their respective leagues, the low-payroll powerhouses will meet for another opener with Martinez back on the mound and a World Series title on the line. "They're a team that doesn't take any pitches off," Martinez said. "They're always fighting every pitch. They never give up. It's going to be a dogfight."